Game Thoughts: King's Quest

Also after watching a playthrough I immediately got this installment of King's Quest. After decades since the last release, I was at first not interested. This is why I love let's play videos. I might have really missed out.

Only the first "episode" is available so look forward to future installments!

Synopsis:

 Flashback to the 80's and the first graphical games were coming out. King's Quest was one of the first revolutionary titles in a text-based game world. Full of humor and impossible puzzles unless you had the number to the Sierra hotline. It's a fond memory for many.

Today we have a release of the spiritual prequel. The adventures of King Graham before he became a knight of Daventry, before he went on his adventure for the crown. The old king Graham tells his spunky young granddaughter tales of his youth.

Virtues

All the puns...all of them. (Kind of the staple of the series.)
Charming characters with fun designs
Beautifual painted backgrounds
Splendid voice work
The puzzles do NOT require a walkthrough...yay
Wonderful story
Nostalgia as well as brimming with its own unique charm.
No Swearing, No Nudity, No Sex...complete rated G

Vices

Very, very mild gore
Puns? How could you hate them?
Seriously guys this is the hardest list I've had to come up with. Finally a simple, charming game without the nuttiness of smut, swearing, or all that fun stuff that I usually play.
It was a little sluggish on my laptop...but it was on my laptop.

Conclusion

King's Quest gets my support! It's enjoyable, funny, and a great successor to the King's Quest series, all modernized for today's audiences. Also, if you have a mind (and a walkthrough...trust me you'll need them) enjoy the original King's Quest series...also available on Steam. Good, clean fun. But you will pull your hair out at points. :)

Dragon Age Inquisition Part 3

Okay I did make it through some more of the story. A couple of themes came up:

Religion and Faith ( a big theme)
Homosexuality (another theme throughout the games)

So spoilers a bit here, at one point you meet with an openly gay mage as a companion. In a side-quest you can trick him into meeting with his father whom he was estranged from for years. It mirrored a lot of common modern reactions to a child coming out. It was very humanizing and illustrated the struggle of parent trying to reconcile with an older child. Also both being stubborn about things. It definitely was better handled than in Dragon Age II. Clearly this was planned out better.

In one of the random codex things you can find scattered throughout the game one was titled "Sexuality in Thedas". This one of the few codex entries I actually read read and I was saddened to see how well it reflects a common misconception: Sexuality is Separate from Procreation. One is just a taste, for fun or preference and the other a duty. ...See this is why you get plagues and blights Thedas. Seriously...sex...makes...babies. Fact of life. And it's not terrible. Also marriage not terrible.

Sooo...now for religion stuff. There's a LOT of it in this one. This is one of the few games that lets you play as a religious character without it coming off as too pandering or negative. I've gotten to a point in the game where it was revealed how the Inquisitor got the "mark". Throughout the beginning of the game, lots of people seem to believe it was a gift from God (I hate that they call him the Maker. Blegh...so generic.) or the religious prominent prophet. But surprise, surprise, the Mark is from a happy accident. Well, not that happy. This throws some characters into a situation where they could think "Wow...I've been LYING to people saying I got this mark from Andraste."

But they have SMART religious characters. If you have Faith you can believe that God works in the world and allowed it to happen. If you don't, nothing changes. Religion and Faith are themes I feel are handled well in this series. They do a good job humanizing characters even "religious" ones.

The main "church" of the world isn't the only one on the chopping block either. My main play through is with an Elf character who comes from a background that has a completely different belief system. (Which was uncomfortable for her to be called chosen by the main religion's prophet.) But there was a big twist (which I won't reveal) about one of the Elven gods.

Reforming the main Church was also a big thing. The player gets to "choose" or "influence the clerics" on who to choose for the next Divine. This particular Church comes off as a bit more political than spiritual but that would make the game less fun not to choose the next leader of the main faith of the world. (Although personally, I'd probably be part of the Black Chantry that's lead by a male Divine...just sayin'.)

The role of this Chantry is also pretty well...earth centric. It has the common criticism of building elaborate cathedrals and dresses instead of feeding the poor. Huh...where have I heard this criticism before? Sounds so familiar! -__-

Anyway, I'm very, very close to finishing my first play through of the game. :D

Game Thoughts: Undertale

There has been some buzz on the Let's Play channels I frequent about this game Undertale so I went and had to try it for myself. I was not disappointed. The simplistic art and unique game mechanics really mesh well to make an rich experience. Allow me to summarize...

Summary
Long ago Monsters and Humans fought in a war. The monsters lost so they retreated underground and sealed themselves via magic. But they long for a return to the surface. Meanwhile, you a human child fall into the deep and wake up in a temple. Your goal is to get to the surface.
But how? Aren't you in enemy territory?

Virtues

Charming story, dialog and characters.
Turns lots of stereotypes on their heads.
Simplistic art.
Smart game play mechanics.
Non-violent route.
No Swearing.

Vices
Controls are really challenging if using a keyboard. Just saying.
There are some parts of the final boss that "crash" the game. This is just a mechanic I don't like. It's confusing. It works with the story but still.
Same-sex relationships.

Conclusion:
I like how it turned the idea of fight the monsters in RPGs on its head. It's not always obvious (and because I was watching a Pacifist playthrough on the Let's Plays it was given away.)
The game has enjoyable humor and even gets kind of metaphysical. Souls is a pretty big theme throughout the game. The thing about humans is that their souls persist after death. :) :) So immortal souls. That's Catholic-y sound.

Definitely an enjoyable tale and worth a try. Just keep in mind that some characters are involved in a same-sex romantic relationship.

Dragon Age Iniquisition Part 2

So I've moved a little bit further into the story, not by much but by enough to add a NEW PART.

I haven't had a chance much to write about game soundtracks. Soundtracks are my favorite genre of music. I have the soundtracks or parts of them from all the Dragon age games. Orchestral swells that make things seem grander and more moving. This is the power of music. A good soundtrack can really make a game more endeared and memorable.

Games with good music stick with me. Legend of Zelda has always been big into music, and Halo has that haunting chant that has become a staple of the series. Now at first, I didn't hear any repeating melody that I would consider memorable in DA:I. That is until one scene where characters break out into a song. It starts a Capella but then you hear the theme song swell in at the end. Then I started noticing the melody everywhere in the game. It did have a running them. And it was a pretty song too. I'm glad I got the soundtrack.
Also...this is now Dragon Age the Musical. Ha ha! (And characters do comment on the scene. "Hey you made people start singing all together." "Yes...please don't break into song now." "...Fine...*pout*")

Also, it finally happened I met the cameos I was HOPING to meet. King Alistair makes a brief appearance. But Hawke is a character. Unfortunately it kind of stops the game and makes you recreate Hawke or use the default. Pssh...of COURSE I remade Hawke to look like AJ from my stupid fan comics. Yes I may have scripted some out before I even knew what the game was about. But sadness, I lost the thumbdrive on which they were stored.

It breaks up the gameplay and story flow to do a character creation but I kind of appreciate the effort too add the character in. So how much farther did I get? Not far at all. I keep going back to play other characters until they're at the same point. I don't know why I do this to myself.

I lied I do know. I want to see how different the world is based on the world states I used for each saved game.

Anyway, as I get further in I'll add more. Until next time.

Game Thoughts: Dragon Age Inquisition Part 1

This will probably be a bit of a series as I try to get through the game. It's already ruining my life/sleep cycle. So there's that. I think I've put in a good 10 hours for each character I've made. For now I've narrowed down my game to one character to go through the game. I've designed maybe 6 characters with more on the way.

Currently I have:
- Self-Insert Elf version - similar to my first playthrough of Origins, I started with an elf. Although this one is a mage, not a warrior.

- Fanfic Self Insert - based on my fancomic Tale of Mage Angelo and Warrior AJ...now we have Inquisitor Modesty...also a shameless self-insert.

- Mage Angelo - he has a playthrough in every game and manages to make the world worse. :D It's his thing.

- Willow Qunari Mage - because qunari are playable, I had to make one.

- Malkia - My buck-toothed dwarf warrior. She was a happy accident of the character creation and I just like her.

- Bigby - Male qunari warrior. ...I had to have someone be my ruthless playthrough. And I like the Fables Series.

Anyway, on to some overall thoughts on various aspects: aesthetic look/Art Design, gameplay, graphics, story, and characters.

Art Design

By George, I think they've finally done it! They've taken the iconic look of Dragon Age 2 and added the fantasy flair of old. I am so very pleased with the new art direction...and yes I do follow one of the art director's art blogs. Now the world I feel is coming into its own with unique art for each culture. However, even the UI has seen some nice touches that make it feel like a fantasy game. The codex in particular uses this fascinating almost tarot card art style for the entries.

The armor designs are also much better than Origins, finding a nice balance in visual interest, personality and so on for each main character. Let's just say, I'm loving my Vash The Stampede style mage coat that flutters in wind. And I can't wait to get that Carmen Sandiego style hat.

Graphics

Hand in hand with the art design the graphics have seen a major upgrade from the first two games in the series. It's a good mix of stylization and "fantasy realism". But if your computer settings aren't just right, it like you're in the future because everything here is shiny. Tip: Set Meshes to high to get rid of the extra glisten to hair. I'm hoping there's a fix or mod for this. Also the graphics are INTENSE, so it's no wonder the system requirements are so high. Also world map size. Good gravy.
So that gets us into gameplay.

 

Gameplay

It feels like each game in the series has it's own unique gameplay style. Unlike Mass Effect which was always had a semblance of consistency with gameplay. Dragon Age Origins was yet another D&D style RPG game. You had a camp, companions, and a campaign. Dragon Age II was almost an episodic game with an MMO quality to it. Dragon Age Legends was a flash game where you did fight 2D RPG style but also managed a castle. I can't say I've played Dragon Age Heroes but I'm sure it's unique.

What's this to say, Inquisition feels like a completely different take: It mixed a bit of open world like the Elder Scrolls games, some resource management and a bit of politics. It's weeeeird. But in a good way.

PC control scheme is crap though. Completely unintuitive and hard to utilize. I switched to a game controller because that noise...still. The movement systems in the other games worked fine for PC gaming. /sigh/

Story

Seems a good point to segway into story. Now I'm still in the earliest portions of the game, I don't have a stronghold yet. BUT I am happy to see that one of my biggest beliefs about stories is illustrated so well: Time Travel Ruins EVERYTHING. No spoilers, you can read that elsewhere. To be honest I was wondering how things were going to go between DA2 and other titles. I'm still a bit confused as to how things progressed. The character is sort of thrust into the situation.

I'm not so much of a lore nerd to notice the inconsistencies yet. I know they are there though. I can feel them. But I'm too distracted by throwbacks to characters from earlier games. (Just like in Mass Effect 3.)

However, overall, I feel that so far the story has the epicness of the first game but now with more established lore to back it up.

Characters

So there are several "types" of characters: Advisers, Agents and Companions.
Companions fight with your character, similar to other games. Agents are usually around to run specific crafting or game altering influence in the game. Advisers are like companions but don't fight directly in battle. Okay, so I'm not clear on how this all fits together yet but maybe it will make sense.

I don't have all the companions yet and I purposely avoided all promotional stuff...or as much as possible. I went in only knowing their names and sexual preferences because that's how they market these things nowadays.

Like Mass Effect 3 it's fun seeing old friends and see how they've changed. Meeting new characters which at first you're resistant about but then they grow on you. Like Fungus.
My take on the characters I have so far...

Cassandra: She's remained consistent throughout the media I've seen her in. I like her brash, opinionated personality but peppered with experience.

Cullen: Hello familiar face I recall from the rest of the series. I know you're popular with the female fan-base...it's great to see how you've grown and changed over the years. Also, awesome feather pauldron things. It's soooo fluffy! Also super cute, this is obscuring my better judgement.

Josaphine: Mole...mole...molely molely molely. I like her though. She's crafty and got a great accent.

Lelianna: Poor girl. You were so innocent now...so dark. Mage Angelo would be SO SAD. He never should have left you. Shame on him this is all his fault. ...now this post is getting silly...ANYWAY, she's clearly dealing with hard struggles which I like to see, I hope she maintains some of her innocence. Probably not. Which is fine too I guess.

Solas: He sounds like a proper, older gentleman. I do enjoy his conversations. Again just the sound of his voice is...comforting. Which is kind of awesome. Also, the straight man in a lot of jokes.

Varric: His personality is unchanged from Dragon Age II, which is why he's a bit more endearing to me at least. It's something familiar to cling to in a world gone mad. But you CAN change his armor to be something with a closed shirt...this should not be allowed. ...Just kidding.

Sera: ...she...confuses me. She's incoherent most of the time. She's also raunchy. I keep hoping for funny banter from her but I'm left wanting.

Blackwall: I thought he'd be more stoic. But he's actually more like a mildly drunk lumberjack. He's actually kind of funny. It's oddly endearing. And that beard...is so attractive. *fans* Oh my...what was I talking about again.

Iron Bull: See I was sure HE'D be the inappropriate macho man. So far, he's just macho and more serious than I thought. I will never understand the qunari. :P

Vivienne: I...LOVE...Vivienne. I find her super attractive. Elegant, well-spoken, and a touch of sass.
And proof that mages can indeed pull off the MOST silly of hats.

That's who I have so far. I'm looking forward to running into Hawke . I've already run into some of my Hero of Ferelden legacy. (I'm using a world state based on my first playthroughs of previous titles. So...my warden is dead.) Also Alistair and Morrigan. I kinda wish Anders came back...but I can see how that would make things incredibly awkward with the party.

Update: I just ran into one cameo of Alistair. I was pleased to see he's wearing the armor from the comics which means I have a much better reference for the cosplay. But what happened to the beeeeard. :( And since the hair style no longer include the Nathan Drake duck butt carved out of wood...he looks mildly dignified. Mildly. But he also looks a lot like Cullen. :/ I hope the hair mods come out soon.

Overall

I've been gushing a lot. But that's because I'm on the honeymoon period still. It's long. It takes a lot of time. And I had to buy a whole new computer JUST to run it. (Now I have 2 desktops to get rid of.) That's the part that makes me the maddest. The requirements are intense. Also the control scheme and the initial graphic-lighting issues I had were distracting. I had a rough start with the game but I am enjoying it now. As the plot thickens. But I'm also trying NOT to spend too much time on sidequests...but I'm failing horribly. Also the sound effects of some creatures are awfully ear wrenching...particularly the Red Hart. :P It squeals and screams so terribly.

I am enjoying it...maybe too much. I must take time off to sew this upcoming long weekend.

Tips: Set meshes to high to remove the hair glare.
I used Pinnacle to create a profile for the game controller so I could keep the layout of the mouse/keyboard. However, it's seriously nearly impossible to play with the current mouse/keyboard set up. 

Game Thoughts: Dreamfall

After finishing The Longest Journey, I started playing the 2nd game in the series, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Developed by Funcom and released in 2006, this title takes a more action-adventure gameplay style compared to the predessor. The player controls character movement, but still solves puzzles via collecting and interacting with people and objects.

Synopsis

Again in the setting of the twin worlds connected by dreams, we follow Zoe, a rich student suffering from clinical depression/apathy. (I could RELATE!) She sets off on a journey while searching for her ex-boyfriend Reza, a journalist for a controversial paper. During the journey she meets April from the previous game and uncovers a dangerous conspiracy.

Virtues

A non-white female lead! Zoe is a beautiful Eurasian woman with very good flaws and interesting relationships.
Play as multiple characters. April returns to the title as a playable character and newcomer Kian.
Great graphical improvement really helped immersion reach a new level. Environments were lush and absolutely goregous. The characters look and move in more human-like ways.
Not hypersexualized. The women are beautiful and sexy but note in a hypersexualized way. Zoe wears practical clothes for the most part. True there are underwear dream sequences, but it's a white cami and bikini underwear. Sexual relations are spoken about but never shown.
Diverse characters. People come in all shapes, sizes, ages and colors.
Lovely soundtrack and good voice acting. Maybe it's just that I enjoy British and Irish accents but it was lovely.
Puzzles were all very solvable without a walkthrough. (Except for a couple that I got lazy on.)
Good story. With good or at least decent morals. And a sweet romance. The theme is "Faith", which is nicely explored. I was uncertain about Kian but wait it out and let it develop. It gets good. Questioning his faith and finding True Faith and strength in his religion. He sees the flaws and failings of the people but not the true goodness of it.
Traveling was faster with the new action system.

Vices

Primitive battle system. Zoe could do karate, Kian a sword, and April a staff. It was clunky and slow. The battle AI also did not provide much challenge. (Which suits the system.)
Again, lots of strong language and swearing. Now more violence because of the battle system.
Disorienting at first. Okay, maybe I've been spoiled by mini-maps for games like this. It was easy to get turned around and lost while trying to find the next objective. (Which I guess could be a good thing too. It WAS very immersive.)
The game plays well with a controller, it's very tricky with a mouse and keyboard. (Thus I used a controller.)
Lots of plot points left hanging for a sequel. Frustrating for the player, to be left with more questions than answers. (Luckily the sequel comes out this year.)

Conclusion

As someone who has experienced clinical depression, I could relate to Zoe's feelings in the beginning and enjoy seeing her try to overcome it and return to her former self. This one was more fun than the first. It was an excellent improvement and hard to put down. The ending left me hungry for more and I'm glad I played it NOW rather than when it was first released. (That's a long time to wait for a sequel!) It is for a mature audience, but I would recommend it rather highly. No Catholics in this one but definitely more cultures. (Love it!)

Game Thoughts: The Longest Journey

Okay, I'm sort of back with a new post. Thank you for prayers, I'm starting to recover and return to my old self. (Yay!) Also, I've managed to play a few games that I can have Game thoughts about! So my most recent game is Funcom's The Longest Journey which was released in 1999/2000 and currently available on Steam. (Which is where I got it.) It's a point and click adventure game.

Synopsis

In a cyber-punk future, you play April Ryan, an art student with a troubled youth who is haunted by dreams of another world. By the guidance of an enigmatic, old homeless man, she finds herself on a journey to save two worlds (one of science and one of magic) and restore the "Balance".

Virtues

A realistic female lead. How refreshing! Also supporting cast is well developed and charming.
The Catholic Church exists still! One point, April talks to a Catholic priest who sort of reconciles the "Balance" with the Catholic faith. Or rather show how they both don't exclude one another.
Interesting worlds, storyline and morals (Forgiveness seems to be a big one). Character change and develop.
Beautiful background environments. Lovely soundtrack. Pretty decent voice acting...for the time.Like many adventure games, almost everything has something the character comments on.
Nothing is super hyper sexualized. Sexual relations are talked about but never portrayed.

Vices

Lots and Lots of harsh language. It's fitting for the most part but could get a bit tiresome and excessive.
Obscure puzzles: Some puzzles were really difficult to figure out without a guide. No hints or story suggestions at all to what the answer would be.
Character graphics are primitive. A vice that can't be helped due to the limitations of game art back then. Gorgeous for the time but it has not aged that well. Human faces could look very alien at times. Also some male nudity...but again primitive graphics tone this down. (No female nudity, just underpants and a cami.)
Slow movement. To move is simple, point and click for April to walk to the destination. Double click to jog. It still takes quite some time for the animation to complete and for April to cross the screen. This seemed to stretch gameplay.
Some violence but comparatively tame to current standards. The low poly graphics aide in this.

Conclusion

The world-building, exploration, and strange story really drew me in and kept me hooked. It helped me overlook the primitive 3D graphics which could be quite distracting. Characters are all flawed but done so well. Of course it gets cliche and predictable at points. The language could get very distracting and slightly offensive at times. (Generally I have a pretty thick skin, but lots of taking the lord's name in vain really bugs me.) Personally, I enjoyed it but it is definitely for a mature audience.

Game Thoughts: Mass Effect 1

For many years, I had a silent protest against the Mass Effect series. I avoided the franchise after the game inspired some awkward conversations with former co-workers. In any case, I watched a playthrough of the first two games of the series, the whole trilogy came out on sale and my Halo armor costume  project has also lead to finding images of Mass Effect Cosplay. Soooo...I like that stuff.

Reasons for Protest

There were 3 major reasons why I avoided the game.

1. Soft Porn Scenes and overt Sexualization - I swear at every opportunity they made something weirdly erotic. Costuming is the biggest offender for this one. But even tone of voice, actions and situations could end up as suddenly weirdly sexual. 
2. I don't like Sci-Fi - This is completely personal taste. The inorganic nature of the environments, the hospital colors, and the sterile nature of such settings do not appeal to me.
3. Over-Hype - It's true, fans can ruin everything. I recall being VERY pressured to play the game, when I had just bought the game that they had been pressuring me to play just a week or two ago.

Now for the actual thoughts...

Synopsis

You play as a commanding officer, Shepard in a human-based space military called the Alliance. Humanity is relying on you to help our species get a place on the galactic council, the ruling body for many species. Shepard goes on various missions to impress this council and discovers some unsettling big picture problems about to go down. Inorganic or mostly machine enemies have this big conspiracy plot to destroy all advanced organic life in the galaxy. This must be stopped.

Virtues

As true with most games of this nature, there are plenty of opportunities for "lessons" in morality. If you're playing with the right mindset. It does tackle some hard to deal with issues. 

Some of the interesting "morals" I had run across: do the ends justify the means in law enforcement, wiping out the last of a species that was previously hunted to extinction, being independent as a species vs relying on others, does someone deserve a second chance, should a woman get genetic therapy for her unborn baby, and more. 

The design and culture of the world has be thoroughly detailed making it a very immersive experience. 

I really like a lot of the alien designs. Expecially the Quarians and Turians. (Kitty faced dinosaurs.) 

Excellent character development. 

A mention of God and faith that reminded me of C.S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet". (Sadly, it's only a mention in passing.)

Paragon (good) choices reaped long-term good benefits, Renegade (evil) choices usually end in only short term benefits. 

Vices

This list might be a bit long. So let's start with game play elements.

I didn't want to believe other reviewers that the land vehicle sections controlled like a cow in a pushcart with 3 wheels. Getting from point A to point B was like herding cats. 

Renegade (evil) options are hardly ever appealing or very blatantly awful. At least give me some grey area where it might be a good idea or seem slightly beneficial. There was an unbalanced amount of favor to Paragon (good) choices. I know it's kind of weird to list this as a "vice" but I prefer a little grey area in these option. Not that "evil" should be rewarded, but the weakness of such a system feels like imbalanced gameplay. 

A whole race of fetish aliens - The Asari are a single sexed species. This is fine and a fascinating concept. How would we a complimentary sexed species relate, how would their culture be different. No, instead, we have a race of hot females with no sexual shame that can control when they become "pregnant". They still have this concept of mother and father.
I see the intent and I respect that it is an interesting idea, but the presentation is definitely what a lot of people see. It doesn't help that they mostly employ them as strippers. 

Strong Atheism, weak deism - One of the many weaknesses in a sci-fi story is the exclusion of faith or the demonizing of it. Some faiths are okay, such as the Asari belief in the Goddess. Others are demonized, such as the hanar's evangelical preaching about the Enkindlers. We have one deist in Ashley, who only believes in God but doesn't seem to associate with any one religion. 

Is it really so difficult for someone to be portrayed not only as a good Christian but a scientist or soldier? So very little is said about one of humanities BIGGEST humanizing features. Seriously, we Catholics believe that the all powerful, creator of the universe became Man and dwelt among us. Seriously. Other aliens outside looking in might see that as our hubris, but it makes humans truly unique. ...yes okay, I like writing my own semi-sci-fi worlds where THIS IS AN ISSUE. How would the church fit in with these aliens? Also...if they all have reasoning, therefore supernatural souls...is inter-species marriage...agh...I can see how that might complicate things. 

Conclusion

There are several characters that I like and its a pretty good story. But more often than not, the story or character development would go to an uncomfortable place. I had to double check a walkthrough to make sure I didn't pick the choice that triggered the sex scene. (Because you can't skip the movies like you can in Dragon Age.) I like romance in games, because I like those kinds of stories and it adds a human element to an otherwise inhuman setting.

It's okay. I wasn't blown away by it and don't feel like I missed much when I originally avoided playing the game. HOWEVER, I am going to continue into the next 2 games. Because the setting is great, the characters are great, the story and trimmings I could take or leave. 

Game Thoughts: Dragon Age Series

Introduction
It's no secret that one of my favorite games this year has been the Dragon Age Series by EA Games and Bioware. Titles by Bioware that follow this Choose-your-own adventure type design are often full of moral goodies that can really challenge a player's perceptions thanks to good writing. It was just this year that I finished playing Origins, Awakening and Dragon Age 2. I have played through Origins 3 times, Awakening 2 times and DA2...I'm working on my 5th or 6th play through. I've lost count.
In this post I'm going to highlight some Catholic thinking in these games.

Free Will
First concept I'd like to cover is Free Will. Free Will is the human freedom to choose evil or good in simple terms. Animals do not have free will because they can not distinguish good and evil, they act on instinct. Our ability to reason and qualify an act as good or evil and the ability to choose between the two is our Free Will.

 In gaming, this is often represented in "morality choices". I will speak more on this another time.

Much of the player character's Free Will is limited to in game dialog choices which allow for certain actions to take place. In Origins and Awakening, the choices were more numerous and often grey in moral standing. In DA2, things are made a little more limiting by labeling the choices as "good" or "bad" (peaceful or aggressive etc.) Between the two main titles, this change was a bit upsetting. The outcome was "freer" in Origins where the player was allowed to interpret for themselves what would be an "evil" or "good" response.

Morality
 Thanks to the writing and scenarios in the game, there are lots of moral issues that the player deals with in the game.  Immersion level really helps the weight of these choices to the player. However, the player is not only making moral choices but reacting to moral problems. The sheer number of scenarios make it difficult to pick and choose. However, there are several themes I notice in my playthroughs.

 Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity
  Most often, I will find the story saddles the player with the choice of either killing or releasing a person.  The lives of criminals and innocents alike are set before you. Will you let one live and the other die? Most often, it is a choice to let a criminal live or die. The crimes vary from petty theft to outright slaughter.
Catholic teaching respects ALL HUMAN LIFE. That also means the life of a criminal, murderer, rapist, and pedophile. In both the game titles, there comes a point where you must spare the life or kill a key character. One choice will upset a party member and they will leave, usually the one who was portrayed as the "morally straight and narrow" type. It's one of my FAVORITE points in the game because the choice remains difficult. Because both instances, there is a chance for the perpetrator to redeem themselves if they live. Which is precisely why the Church (and myself personally) stands against the death penalty...in a majority of cases. (Church's Stance on Capital Punishment...it's short).
HOWEVER, because of the game setting, (roughly the middle ages), such matters of justice were more common place. In some cases, within the game, the player IS a figure of authority and it would be appropriate to dish out death to protect the community. In other cases, it's a personal choice. (Oh the woes of bringing modern thinking into primitive society!)
 
 Sexuality
Yay my favorite thing to talk about in these games. One of the "selling points" of the game is the simulated romance and "sex scenes" (with awkward 3d models yay!). So where to start?
Well, let's talk about impact. Pursuing a romance in Origins offers more story related effects particularly to the ending of the game. At the same time, romancing each character in a play through offers a trophy award. A head mounted on the wall as it were. In DA2, the trophy award is simply "you romanced someone". I'm not sure if it qualifies as objectifying if its an object anyway but the concept of objectifying another person is still there. Church teachings are pretty clear about objectifying another person. (Hint: It's not good.)

There is one point in DA2 that somewhat GRINDED MY GEARS because it aptly shows a misconception rampant in society. That is the perception that CHASTITY = NO SEX. This couldn't be further from the truth in Church teaching. Celibacy...celibacy is the free choice to abstain from intercourse for life. Chastity is respecting and recognizing that sexuality is a gift to be given. It demands that you see others as a human being, not an object to be used. All people, married, single and celibate are called to Chastity. If you're curious, there is a point in a romance with the character Sebastian where he suggests a chaste marriage, suggesting there is romance but no intercourse.
Err...yeah, all marriages should be chaste but marriage is certainly NOT about celibacy. Dear God, it's so not! (Although there is a romance path with this character that ends in a non-celibate marriage too. :3)

Moving on to the concept of marriage. It's a bit "weird" in these game titles as the option to get married is only available in rare cases. It's kind of sad really. But I suppose that may be the comic guy(or gal) mentality sneaking in and not enough of the marriage is great guys(and gals). There are plenty of other popular beliefs about sex within these titles including, cohabitation, homosexuality, bisexuality, prostitution, and other such objectifying beliefs. These are usually viewed as "acceptable" actions in this world...well by most of your companions. That's the other nice thing is that each character's beliefs will be reflected in their dialog reactions.

All this said, sex is not bad or evil. It's very good. It's awesome and therefore special. It's also the one thing most actively attacked by Satan and used against us. It is a great lie to say that sex is bad and should be repressed. Also that its meaningless or only for your personal pleasure is a lie. There is a great deal of smarter men and women who write on this subject. I would point you to the blogs linked here to read more on Catholic Sexual Morality. (I just like talking about games.)


Good vs. Evil
 An overriding theme is that you the player are in a conflict of Good vs. Evil.  The theme is more obvious in Origins with the enemy is clearly defined as evil. In general, the player is always the "good guy" but things are taken a step further based on actions in key points during the game. How good was the Warden? Were things really that much better after the defeat of the Archdemon? Do the ends justify the means?

That's another big theme too. The Church teaching on this is that the Ends do NOT justify the Means.


Closing Thoughts
This really only scratches the surface of things I've gleaned from the stories in Dragon Age.  Often I try to utilize my personal method of making moral choices when choosing in game options. It's really hard for me to play as a "jerk" in these games but I do try for the sake of exploring that option. I won't really get into the whole "is it a sin to..." kind of discussion but I may in another post. Because it's something to consider.

And of course, the millions of humorous responses to events and choices never fail to entertain.
In fact, I've made stupid comics about them...enjoy: Tale of Mage Angelo and Warrior AJ